Monday, July 13, 2009

Endless Dismal Moan was the black-metal outlet of Japan's Takuya Tsutsi.Under the moniker "Chaos 9", Takuya released three full-length albums from inception in 2001, ending with his unfortunate death & passing in 2008.

I stumbled upon his second full-length, 'Lord of Nightmare', and the first thing that grabbed me was Tsutsi's voice. Agony and general malice seem the trademark emotions conveyed in BM, and while the dude abides, Tsutsi's voice seems to pull at something darker.. I don't think Tsutsi could have arrived at a more fitting name than "Endless Dismal Moan" -- his mastery of subtle to savage vocals creates enough imagery and atmospherics to shame most BM acts with ease.I'd go as far as to say that I haven't heard a better, more unique vocalist in the realm of extremes since Alan Dubin.

The album art might be the worst album-cover ever (for BM that's saying something), but you'd be kicking yourself to not pay tribute to such a unique voice and overall great album.